Two full seasons in, Doctor Who finally gave viewers a hint of where its mysterious main character came from in The Time Meddler, a story that introduced the Doctor’s first time-traveling rival, the Monk. If the War Chief was a Master prototype, the Monk is the concept phase — the Doctor’s ideological opposite at a time long before the character became a righter of wrongs on a cosmological scale. Sure, the Monk is simply mischievous, but the fact that he’s morally closer to the Doctor than later villains helps define the lines around the Doctor himself. That’s a sign the show is full of confidence, so why not flaunt it by painting the faces of the regular cast among the stars?
Commentary for The Time Meddler begins at 17:08.
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Story Essentials
Season 2, Serial 9
Story number: 17, per the The Pull To Open Codex
Writer: Dennis Spooner
Director: Douglas Camfield
Producer: Verity Lambert
Aired 3 July – 24 July 1965
Pull To Open: The Time Meddler
Season 4
Episode 35
Hosts: Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor
Music: Martin West/Thinking Fish
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